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Simple Image Access Specification
Version 1.0

IVOA Recommendation 11 November 2009

Interest/Working Group:
http://www.ivoa.net/twiki/bin/view/IVOA/IvoaDAL
Author(s):
Doug Tody, Ray Plante
Editor(s):
Paul Harrison

Abstract

This specification defines a protocol for retrieving image data from a variety of astronomical image repositories through a uniform interface. The interface is meant to be reasonably simple to implement by service providers. A query defining a rectangular region on the sky is used to query for candidate images. The service returns a list of candidate images formatted as a VOTable. For each candidate image an access reference URL may be used to retrieve the image. Images may be returned in a variety of formats including FITS and various graphics formats. Referenced images are often computed on the fly, e.g., as cutouts from larger images.

Status of this document

This document has been produced by the Data Access Layer Working Group.
It has been reviewed by IVOA Members and other interested parties, and has been endorsed by the IVOA Executive Committee as an IVOA Recommendation. It is a stable document and may be used as reference material or cited as a normative reference from another document. IVOA's role in making the Recommendation is to draw attention to the specification and to promote its widespread deployment. This enhances the functionality and interoperability inside the Astronomical Community.



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